


The Seeing Heart

by Yukitsune



Series: The Most Beautiful Things in the World [1]
Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival (Video Game), Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/F, Friendship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, but that isn't the focus here, i would tag this but its spoiler-y, im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-22
Updated: 2018-10-22
Packaged: 2019-08-05 21:50:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16375640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yukitsune/pseuds/Yukitsune
Summary: Fantasy AU; The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt by the heart.Dia has a secret. It's not the fact that she's been able to see souls, or rather, the manifestation of souls, since she was a child; neither is it the fact that she knows the reason why students have been dropping out of school. It is a simple secret; one that she has been trying to forget. She had been fine with living in the background and avoiding trouble. However, when the sudden return of an old friend causes the situation to escalate, she starts to see things in a different light and realises that nothing stays in the dark forever.





	The Seeing Heart

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”  
— the little prince  
Antoine de Saint Exupéry

~~

A light flickered. 

The girl stopped to glance behind her. As far as she could tell, she was on her own. It was a lonely path back to town, especially after nightfall. Her surroundings were mostly shrouded in shadow and darkness, save for the few streetlamps that lit the road in front of her. She strained her ears to listen, but the only sound she heard was the slight rustling as the leaves shuddered amidst the foliage. 

It would have been normal, except that the air was still. 

The steady hum of electricity convinced her to keep walking. With each street lamp she passed, her steps became shorter, quicker and faster. She stopped glancing to her sides. Instead, she focused on reaching the next street lamp, and the next. 

And then, the row of street lamps ended. 

She stopped just before the lighted boundary of the last street lamp met the dark ground. If she squinted, she could see a convenience store at the far end of the road. She could make it, if she ran. However, she would have to make it through 2 blocks of unlit paths. 

She glanced at her battery depleted phone. She shouldn’t have stayed in school that late, but she had fallen asleep while studying. By the time she had woken up, the sun had already begun to set. 

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath and broke into a sprint. 

Something moved in the corner of her eye but she kept running. The lit entrance to the store was within her range of sight. She felt her breath catch in her throat. Her steps faltered. She heard a sound of impact, but she didn't hit the ground. She could feel the antsy prickling sensation on her skin as the darkness inched closer, and then nothing.

She didn’t have the chance to scream. 

There was a dull clang on the glass door. 

The man at the counter looked up curiously, but didn’t move from behind the register. He had been called in for the midnight shift because the previous worker assigned to the shift left town recently. Late-night shifts were his last choice, but he needed the money. It didn't help that most of the customers who came in at odd hours were either pranksters, or drunks. Unfortunately, he was bound by corporate customer culture to be polite and treat everyone with respect. He waited for the tell-tale chimes to signal that someone had entered the store, but the only sound he could hear was the rattling turbine from the air conditioner. He looked back down at his stock list and shook his head. 

Teenagers.

~~

“Hey, did you hear? The student president dropped out of school this morning.”

“What? Seriously? That’s the second one this week. Did anyone see her before she left?”

“No, her locker and desk were cleared by the time the news broke out. I heard it from the class next door. Apparently, she had been staying in school to study and finish her work. Maybe the stress was too much for her.” 

“At this rate, we’ll barely have half our year group at graduation.” 

“If we even graduate.” The other girl’s voice dropped to a harsh whisper, but her volume didn’t change much. “I heard the school’s in trouble due to the number of students transferring or dropping out.”

Those girls were really noisy, Dia thought. Her back was facing the source of the chatter but she could hear every word as if they were speaking directly to her. She wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but the girls had loud voices and they often talked about meaningless things in the morning. The class was relatively small. It wasn’t her fault that their conversation carried across the few seats that separated them. 

It wasn't a secret that she had difficulties connecting with her classmates. Although she had spent a few years with some of them, they barely knew one another. She had a reputation of being intimidating and cold, so most people avoided her. In essence, she looked forward to the final bell, after which she could meet her best friend and talk about her day. Being kept in a room with many people was suffocating and loud. It made her wish that she had the option to mute everyone around her. 

The only moments of silence that she got, were the seconds between the teacher stepping through the door and reaching the teacher’s table. She idly turned towards the class and scanned the empty seats around her. 

“Oh, Kurosawa-san, sorry. Were we too loud?” Dia realised she must have looked irritated. She had to maintain ties with her school mates, regardless of whether they thought of her as a distant friend or an acquaintance. She thought of pudding and schooled her face into a less intimidating expression before replying them. 

Her classmates were harmless, but human all the same. She tried to focus on their faces and not the shapes and things surrounding them. It was like listening to a constant hum of murmurs which she had learned to tune out. However, as her gaze migrated towards at the glowing plants and flowers which sprouted over one of the girl’s’ shoulders, she hoped her expression remained neutral. She tried not to look too closely. After all, she had a direct line of sight into their souls. They were both in the botany club, but the other girl had a tennis racquet attached to her back, and a line of accessories clinging around her waist and arms. It somewhat reminded her of handcuffs. She didn’t need to ask which of them had acted against their interests. It was sweet though. She hoped that they would have the chance to graduate and live out the rest of their lives elsewhere. 

There was a sudden screeching sound of a chair being dragged along the floor. It broke her concentration and she was almost thankful. One of the other students ran in just in time before the first bell. As the teacher walked in, ready to begin the lesson, something caught her eye. There was movement outside the classroom. She only noticed the edge of the shadow as it passed by the shoe rack, but she turned to the front of the class and focused on slowing down her heartbeat. Some things were better off unnoticed. 

~~

“Ehhhh!?” 

“What’s with that response?” Dia jerked to the side as Kanan splashed a wave of water at her face. She narrowly avoided the direct hit and scowled at her. “It’s not like having students disappear overnight is anything new.” 

“Yeah, but still! Doesn’t it bother you that our school is going to be closed?” 

“I can’t do anything it about it. What’s there for me to consider?” 

“Hmm... You can try to find a way to entice more students to join!” Kanan’s lower body was submerged in water, while Dia remained in the shallows. The sunlight bounced off the surface of the water and Dia had to squint to avoid the glare. She could still feel the burning heat on her cheeks when she closed her eyes. She was thankful that she had remembered to leave her bottle of sunblock in her bag. Running to the beach after school wasn’t her ideal choice for an extra-curricular activity. She hated going into the water because she had a fear of drowning, but it seemed that her best friend had a way of getting her to confront her fears. “Say, wasn’t there a new transfer student recently? She’s a year below us, so she’s in Chika’s class, I believe. I saw her the other day; I think she had gotten lost.” 

Oh, so Kanan had been spending time with Chika. Maybe that was why Dia hadn’t seen her in a while. She thought back to the students she had seen recently. The school population was rather small, so it wasn't difficult to notice when there were new students. “Hmm… Yes, she was originally from a high school in Tokyo. Her name is Sakurauchi Riko and she’s in the art club, if I’m not mistaken.”

“Oh! You’ve spoken to her?”

“Sort of.” Dia scratched the side of her mouth. 

She had been on her way to the shoe lockers when she realised that the lights in one of the clubrooms were on. It was late, and students usually left before nightfall due to the time it took to get from the school back to town. No one wanted to miss the last bus. She slid the door open and peeked inside. The room was empty except for a recently touched canvass. The windows were closed, so the smell of paint and color was a bit suffocating. She had no idea how artists managed to inhale so much paint and not have respiratory issues.

The third year stepped closer to inspect the painting.

The canvass itself was lovely. It was a water-coloured landscape of sakura trees. She recognised the background as one of the famous parks for sakura viewing in Tokyo. However, the dark grey aura that the painting emitted made her skin crawl. It tainted the light pink of the paint and the initial warmth it gave out. The longer she stared, the more sinister it felt. She had no idea what came over her, but she had done the unthinkable. Before she knew what she was doing, she had touched the barely dry painting. She gently pulled the canvass forward and saw the neat print of “Sakurauchi Riko” at the back of the landscape. The new girl must have forgotten to turn off the lights before she left the room. 

Silently committing her name to memory, she stepped back from the artwork. She was about to switch off the lights and go home but something caught her eye. Something was different about the painting.

Dia felt a chill go down her spine. What was originally an idyllic scene of natural beauty had become everything but. The sakura flowers were not pink, but blood red. The ground was no longer emerald green, but a ghastly red, and the trees were broken and torn apart. 

The image lasted for a second, before she heard the door slide open again. 

“Ah! Hello! Are you a senpai? My name is Sakurauchi Riko. I’m sorry for using the art room without permission! I used to be in the art club at my previous school and no one was in here so I thought I could paint here for a while.” A soft spoken voice resounded from behind her. Dia turned to see a slim girl with long maroon hair rushing into the room, her bag in hand. She must be the artist, Dia presumed. The painting seemed to have returned to its original form when she glanced back towards it. 

“My name is Kurosawa Dia. I’m a third year in this school.” Dia formally introduced herself to tone down the mild curiosity at the back of her brain, which told her that something was odd about this girl. “You should pack your things and go home quickly. You’re not supposed to stay in school so late.” 

“Okay. I just transferred here, so I wasn’t aware of the school rules. I apologise for the inconvenience, Kurosawa-san.” Now that she was speaking directly to her, she noticed that Riko had gentle scores of musical notes and splashed of colour that trailed over her hands when she moved. On the surface, she seemed to be a perfectly normal human, if Dia ignored the smell of blood and rotting flesh which seemed to follow her. 

“Okay, so... you’re being judgmental again.” 

“I’m not judgmental!” 

“Yes, you are.” Kanan said without hesitation. She took a noisy munch on a piece of crispy seaweed from the bag of snacks which Dia had brought. “You were so prejudiced against Yoshiko when you first met her.”

“That was different!” Dia bit the inside of her cheek. “It’s not prejudice, it’s caution.”

She thought back to the tiny girl who she had found huddled up in a corner in the dark. She had a blanket tied around her neck like a cape and she had been muttering out loud to herself. She had been in the middle of making a menacing laugh but it quickly turned into a childish shriek when Dia turned the lights on, surprising both of them. The other student had mumbled something about being purified by the light, and that she needed the darkness to strengthen her powers. Dia had to restrain herself from telling her off. 

To make things worse, the girl had lied about her name. She had introduced herself as Yohane and then launched into a long string of words about being a fallen angel who controlled the powers of darkness. Her initial shock turned into annoyance when she realized the girl spoke a lot but made little sense. Dia found out later, from Hanamaru, that she was actually a first year student who hated being called Yoshiko so she called herself Yohane. 

“Need I remind you, Kanan-san, that the girl had covered up all the windows and was sitting in complete darkness. Not to mention, she was talking to a skull.” Dia exclaimed in the loudest whisper she could make. There was nobody around to hear them, but she didn’t want to take her chances. She folded her arms and glared at Kanan, who was less than fazed. “A human skull! Clearly, she isn’t someone I would normally associate with.” 

“A skull? It sounds like that play we learned about in English class.” The other girl mused as she waited for her friend to correct her. Making literary analogies was a definite way to incite Dia’s argumentative side. “What was it again? I remember failing that class even after borrowing your notes.”

“It was Hamlet, and no, it’s not the same.” Kanan grinned as Dia went into a point by point explanation of how Yorick’s dead body was pivotal in showing Hamlet that death had no discrimination because in death, Alexander the Great was no different from a court jester. Ultimately, it didn't matter how important they were in life because they would all be reduced to dust and ash. The swimmer gradually tuned the other girl out after she reached her third point of contention. Teasing Dia never failed to amuse Kanan, it was why she often missed having Mari around to do the same. When she realized that Dia was about to launch into an essay properly, she decided to put an end to things. 

“Okay okay, I get it. Hamlet good, Yoshiko not.” Kanan tried to stifle her own laughter until after she finished her sentence, but when she saw the mortified expression Dia’s face, she burst into laughter. 

“Kanan-san!! That’s not-” Dia’s frowned turned into an exasperated smile as she found the humour in her friend’s words. She shook her head fondly. More than anything, she enjoyed making her best friend smile and laugh like there was no tomorrow. They didn’t have to meet at the ocean, but she liked watching the green waves flow in wisps and currents around her body. Her soul was beautiful, and it was a joy to know that she couldn’t be touched or tainted by whatever was affecting the other people in town. 

The shrill ringtone from her mobile phone interrupted her thoughts. She apologised to Kanan when she saw who was calling her.

“Onee-chan?” 

“Ruby? What’s happening?” Placing the phone to her ear, Dia sat up straight. Ruby hardly called her in the middle of the day, unless it was an emergency. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt?”

“Ah, no. I’m okay. It’s just that I think something’s happened at the school. I saw our director packing a box of his belongings earlier. I just went to check if he had already left, but the teachers told me that room was currently occupied by the new director.” 

“What? Why?” 

“I heard from Hanamaru-chan that someone bought out all the assets yesterday, so the new director will be officially taking over from tomorrow.” Dia frowned. Principal rotation was not unusual, but selling the school and suddenly replacing the director was a very strange move. Even if they had the money, people in Uchiura were not the type to buy over a school, especially one that was rumoured to be closing down. However, the mention of the chestnut haired junior made Dia take the information seriously. She could count the number of people that she trusted, with her hands. Hanamaru was one of them. 

Due to her spending her childhood in a shrine, Hanamaru had been inculcated with different values and her desires were more controlled and toned down as compared to other normal humans. In fact, her soul was outlined with yellow light and very little else, because she embraced the value of nothingness. Dia had been introduced to her through Ruby, but she had taken a liking to her fellow tea appreciator. Despite the fact that Dia found it a bit difficult to understand her ideas of connection and existence as forms of nothingness, they shared similar interests when it came to reading, such that Ruby had once gotten jealous. 

After getting the details, Dia hung up. She should go back to school and find out more information. She didn't want to think the worst. She had to graduate, or she would not be able to keep her promise.

As if she had read her mind, Kanan pulled on a pair of shorts and tossed a shirt over her head. She handed Dia her uniform and beckoned for her to get changed.

They reached the school in record speed. Or rather, Kanan reached the school first. Then, she realized that her friend was nowhere to be seen, so she retraced her steps and dragged a huffing Dia up the slope. The latter saw no need to be as athletic as her friend, but the obvious difference in physical standard made her reconsider her decision. 

She took a deep breath and opened the doors to the director’s office. 

“Excuse- eh?” 

“Oh! It’s you, Dia!” The words were spoken in English. Dia stared at her in shock. The letters in Dia’s head froze before they could form coherent words. What was Mari doing here? Her eyes had to be playing tricks on her. Her childhood friend was in Italy on a scholarship to finish her studies. At least, that was what she had gathered, the last time they had spoken. 

“It’s been so long! I’ve missed you so much!” A pair of arms wrapped around her neck as Mari gave her a tight hug, trapping her in her place. Oh, she was warm, Dia thought. She almost missed her. “Ah, you’ve grown taller, but your chest remains the same.” 

She hated herself for blushing even as she narrowed her eyes in anger. Dia forcefully broke out of her hold but didn’t move too far away from the blonde. Okay. It was definitely Mari. She fixed her face into the most stern expression she could muster. “Please don’t touch me like that.” 

“Aww Dia, have we been apart for so long that you can’t tell when I’m joking?” The other girl spoke in heavily accented Japanese, but she hadn’t changed much since the day she left Uchiura. As always, Mari’s timing was awful. 

“What are you doing here, Mari-san? Aren’t you supposed to be in Italy, finishing your studies?” The brunette didn’t crack a smile. She had forgiven the girl for leaving, but letting Mari barge back into her life wasn’t something she was prepared to do. If the blonde wanted to be cordial, she would oblige; but they weren’t friends. She couldn't trust her. Friends didn't run away when the other was in need. 

“I guess I should have expected the icy welcome after leaving like that.” Mari’s face grew serious. “I’m here because I bought the school. I mean, my papa owns the school now. I’m the new director.”

“Are you kidding me?” Dia blurted out unintentionally. This was a terrible idea. Mari didn’t know what she was getting into. The previous director was a middle-aged adult who lived in Numazu. He hadn’t done much for the school, but he had also avoided being killed. The shadows didn't go after adults as much, Dia realised. They didn't have to. It seemed like growing up and having to face reality and disappointment made their souls dimmer and hence, less attractive to shadows. Mari was everything but. 

“Nope! I’m back for good! Or at least, until we graduate. Look at my uniform! Do you like it? I had it specially made so that I can graduate with you.” Mari tugged the hem of her shirt and Dia realised she was wearing an identical uniform with a tie to match. There was too much information for Dia’s brain to process. The bubbly and loud aura overwhelmed her senses. Mari’s soul has always been difficult to understand, partially because her soul gave off an unusually bright aura. The shape of a soul varied from person to person, but Mari’s seemed to be all over the place. It was erratic and complex, which made it difficult for Dia to get a read on her personality. 

When they were younger, Dia had seen Mari’s soul take on different forms and shapes depending on her desires. She had always been ambitious and passionate, but her personality often meant that she had not felt the desperation of having a single focus and dream. In fact, the Mari she knew at the time, didn't really know herself yet. Compared to then, the current Mari seemed slightly more stable. Of course, there was another possible reason for the change. It was something they both didn’t like to mention, even on the day that Dia sent Mari off at the airport. They hadn’t parted ways on a good note, but under the circumstances, they couldn’t have done much better. 

“Do as you wish, Mari-san. The school’s not the same Uranohoshi Girls’ High School that you remember.” 

“I’m aware of that.” The somber tone that overtook the blonde’s words almost made Dia reconsider her hostility. Mari was serious about trying to make a difference, which was admirable. However, there was a lot that she didn't know. 

She glanced at the ground where the desk that Mari was leaning against, met the wooden floor. Her shadow was growing longer. They didn't have much time before sunset. The school was mostly empty by now and she needed to get home before dinner. 

Ruby had left the school soon after they had met up with one another. Kanan had gone with her, just in case. With the number of disappearances increasing, one could never be too careful. She knew that in the worst case scenario, her friend wouldn’t be much help, but it gave her some peace of mind to know that her sister wasn’t alone. 

“You shouldn't stay here for too long; the electricity gets unreliable after dark.” It was a cryptic message, but she hoped the girl would take her advice. Even though there was still some tension between them, she didn’t want to lose Mari so soon after getting her back. 

~~

It was still dark when she opened her eyes. It was still early. She didn't hear any sounds from her sister’s room and decided to let her sleep for another 15 minutes. 

Dia stifled a yawn as she entered the bathroom. She wiped the residual water droplets off her face and brushed her teeth. She stared at the girl in the mirror. She was frowning. Looking at her reflection irked her so she only did it when absolutely necessary. She would spend her entire day unintentionally getting glimpses of people’s hearts, but when she tried to focus on the image in the mirror, she saw nothing. It was as if she was an empty shell; hollow and all burrowed out. Unlike Hanamaru’s concept of nothingness, this deeply frightened her. The first and only time she had witnessed ‘nothingness’, she hadn’t even realized what the presence of shadows meant. There are some things that are people remember, and those that cannot be forgotten. This was both. 

Her mother had brought her to Tokyo for a day trip. Dia had walked out into a crowded street and lost her mother in the process. Panicked and alone, she walked over an isolated bridge, hoping to spot her mother in the crowd from afar. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to ask if the person could direct her to the correct exit. It was a young boy about her age. He walked right past her without acknowledging her presence, despite her calling out to him. She frowned and thought that people who lived in the city were very rude. However, when she took a closer look at the boy who had no expression on his face, she realized that something was wrong. His shadow was not attached to his body. Its steps were about one second slower than his, even as it trailed just behind his footsteps. Then, it stopped walking altogether. The man got further and further away, but he was empty. He had no soul, no dreams, no motivations. It was just nothing. The longer she stared, the more terrified she became. 

“Dia! I was so worried about you.” She was startled at the sudden appearance of her mother. So, she didn't know how else to respond, other than to hug her. “What were you looking at?” 

She turned back to point out the boy who had been walking just up ahead, but he wasn't there. Neither was the shadow. She allowed herself to be led away by her mother. Yet, the image of the young child walking away from her, with no soul and shadow, remained in her mind long after they had returned to Numazu. Since then, she counted the number of shadows in her head to calm herself down whenever she was with people. Being in a crowd stressed her out because she was bombarded with a massive amount of information and the noise drowned out her thoughts. What she found puzzling, was that while the shadow had somehow devoured the boy, it had walked right past her. She didn't consider the implications of that incident. 

The only thing she could do was make sense of things in her own way. So, she categorized them. Her sister was under the category of people whose hearts were simple and straightforward. They were generous souls who put other people above themselves. They were the easiest to identify because their souls were singular manifestations of their hearts. Aside from people like Kanan and Ruby, whom she categorized as pure, there were those who had desires which were volatile and material, which made their souls complex and messy. What distinguished them was that their souls were noisy and took on numerous forms because they tended to be motivated by personal ambitions. 

Ruby was born with a soul that was almost overflowing with love and joy. Dia had never seen something more precious than her. She wanted to preserve her innocence as long as she could, before the world hurt and hardened her spirit. Her sister had an honest and straightforward heart. That had been obvious from the beginning. Dia had been eating a piece of candy when she walked by the crib, and she saw her soul manifest into a warped object which looked like the candy she was holding. In response, she tried to feed the candy to her sister, only to end up making her cry. Later, her mother told her that she was imagining things because Ruby couldn’t eat sweets and couldn’t speak yet. It was then that she realised that she could see things that were invisible to other people. 

Kanan was the first and only person who knew that she had a special way of reading people. They had been playing near one of the gardens on the outskirts of the neighborhood. It was by sheer chance that Dia had followed a sound and they found a kitten trapped in the drain. 

Her fur was stuck together and she was trembling even though it was midday. She didn’t have a collar so the girls wondered whether it was a stray. Kanan had taken an immediate liking to the cat, but Dia told her not to make assumptions. If she had a pet that had gotten lost, she wouldn’t want some stranger taking it home. Hence, Kanan had bundled it up in her jacket and they had walked around looking for the owner. They had walked for two blocks before little girl ran up to them, yanking on her older brother’s hand. Dia’s first thought was that her voice was loud for someone so small. 

“My cat!!! You found her!” Her hair was bundled up into pigtails, and she had small freckles that dotted her cheeks. Neither of them recognised her, but then again, Kanan and Dia hardly came to this side of town. “We’ve been searching for hours, I’m so glad she’s okay!” 

Kanan was reluctant to part with the kitten so soon. Hence, she started asking questions about her, which the girl and boy answered willingly. Meanwhile, Dia snuck a glance at the young girl and felt a deep sense of fear. She had grown accustomed to seeing souls take on different forms, but the ones she categorised in her head looked nothing like this. 

If it was even possible, the girl had bits of fur and what looked to be blood stains on her shirt. The ends of her fingers were dark and muddy, as if she had been playing in the dirt. Dia didn’t have to look closer to realise that the freckles on her face were actually blood splatters and dirt. If that wasn’t enough, her senses were overwhelmed by the heavy stench of rotting flesh. She could hear what sounded like screams but they didn’t sound human. She tried not to focus on it, but the pitch was hurting her ears. She walked to Kanan, a bit unsteadily, and whispered that she can’t give the cat to them. She didn't give her the reason, but her friend seemed to know implicitly that she should trust her. Kanan’s expression didn’t change, but she held the meowing kitten with more ferocity. She gently stroked its head but didn’t say anything.

“Excuse me for interrupting, but may I have your names and addresses?” Dia quickly stepped in when she realised that Kanan didn’t know how to get rid of them. She had always been better with confrontations. She put on her “older sister” voice which she used to command Ruby’s attention. Despite not knowing them personally, other people rarely disobeyed her when she spoke to them like that. The girl shifted uncomfortably, and the boy awkwardly recited the address of a house that was at least a half an hour walk away. 

Dia narrowed her eyes. “The kitten has barely learnt to walk, so she couldn’t have gotten very far without her mother. So, tell me, which one of you tried to drown her in the drain?” 

There was a split second where the children panicked in different ways. She clearly saw the boy’s face turn pale. The younger girl, however, showed no remorse or reaction of any kind, for that matter. She merely stared stonily at her and clenched her teeth. 

“The cat isn’t yours. She’s mine.” She spoke menacingly through her teeth. Dia steeled herself. She might not be much older than them, but she wasn’t going to let them take the cat under any circumstances. 

“She won’t belong to you either, especially after I tell the police and your family about what you did with the other animals. Things don't stay buried forever.” Making such an assertion was a big gamble. However, for a child to develop such a lack of empathy and have no remorse for her actions, she clearly had done this before. The dirt on her hands could only be from burying them, although she didn't know the exact location. She also knew that the likely chance of the police believing her without evidence, was very low. However, the question was whether Dia was convincing enough. 

The girl paused, clearing weighing her options. Finally, she turned around with a snarl. 

“Onii-chan, let’s go. We’re not wasting anymore of our time on a stupid cat.”

After they turned the corner, Kanan let out an audible sigh of relief. 

“I don't know how you did that, but that was amazing, Dia!” With that sentence, Dia’s worries were immediately quashed. On one hand, she didn't have any other option to prevent the kitten from being abused. One the other, she had been brought up to appreciate and uphold the value of integrity. However, Kanan looked so proud of her that it made Dia feel a bit better about telling a lie. “I would hug you if my arms weren’t full right now.” 

Dia looked at the tiny kitten that meowed pitifully as it snuggled up into Kanan’s jacket. Kanan cooed over her as Dia stroked her head gently. Dia sighed. Her family didn’t allow them to keep pets and Kanan’s family didn’t have the time to take care of one. There was only one other person whom she trusted and was a viable option. 

Hence, she made the ascent up the rocky steps toward the shrine where Hanamaru lived. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the safest place for the kitten to grow up until it could look after itself. Hanamaru’s family would look after the cat and it could wander around the peaceful shrine without fearing its previous owners. 

Despite her curiosity from that incident, Kanan had never questioned her about her ability or asked about what she saw, which Dia appreciated. She didn’t even ask about herself or how far her ability extended. It was something that made her trust Kanan to always have her back without judgment. 

She had no regrets with regards to her decision to keep it a secret from everyone else.

Except for one person. 

~~~

Dia knew that she was bound to run into her again. Not only did they go to the same school, but they lived in the same district. She just didn’t expect to meet her again under such ordinary circumstances. 

“Hello Dia-san!”

“Ah, Chika-san. It’s been a while.” Dia turned around to face the orange haired junior. “How have you been?”

“Mmm... the usual, I guess. I’ve been bringing Riko-chan around Uchiura since she moved in next door.” Dia nodded in understanding. She had known Chika since they were children. Although she had been more of Kanan’s friend than hers, they did play together. Her ambitious dreams and loud optimism used to scare her, because her soul was filled with colour and endlessly high goals.

“I hope she’s adjusting well to the school, academics wise.”

“Ah well, I wouldn’t be able to help much with academics.” Chika laughed sheepishly. “But I know she’s really talented at playing the piano!”

“It’s good that you’ve become friends with her.” Dia didn’t know what else to say. They didn’t really know one another very well. Although Chika had always been a genuinely friendly and sweet person, her loud and hyper active demeanour put Dia off. It was why Kanan had been adamant that the three of them get to know one another better when they were younger. To Kanan, it was simply a matter of getting used to Chika’s energy and appreciating her for who she was. 

“I... I noticed that you’ve been going to the beach more often.” Dia’s head snapped up. She had taken care not to be followed, resorting to spending time at less populated beaches. The other girl was quick to dispel her worries. “Ah, it’s because you became a bit more tan.”

“Oh. Well, I didn’t think there was a point in avoiding the beach. I would have to learn how to swim someday. We do live next to the sea.” Dia feigned ignorance. Chika couldn’t know about her. Kanan couldn’t have told anyone and neither had she.

“That’s true.” Chika gave her an understanding smile, albeit uncertain. She hesitated before she spoke again. “I come here and swim whenever I miss her too. She loved the ocean so much. Being here makes me feel like she’s nearby, even just for a while. It’s okay to talk about her, you know, if you want.”

There it was.

Chika’s timing was impeccable. She tried not to turn to her side and give everything away. However, she saw Kanan’s worried expression in the corner of her eye. The other girl was next to her, half lying on the sand. Their earlier conversation had been disrupted when the younger girl shouted Dia’s name. Dia turned away from Chika and stared straight ahead. 

“Sorry for overstepping. It’s just that after they found her, it became taboo to talk about her. Sometimes, it seems like people forgot she existed.” Chika sat down next to her and let Shiitake loose. The dog padded away from them as he ran to the other end of the beach. Kanan moved to sit closer to both of them and Dia watched as the impressions on the sand changed slightly at the movement. Chika idly drew patterns on the sand while she talked. “I know you two were very close. She was my friend, especially when I didn’t have anyone to talk to.”

“She liked you very much.” Chika couldn’t see it, but Kanan was hugging her tightly from behind. Dia swallowed. She could see how painful it was, for both of them. “You were very important to her.”

“Hehe... Thank you. She liked you a lot too, Dia-san. She knew that you cared for her a lot.” Her eyes were glassy but she still managed to hold a watery smile. In that moment, Dia looked straight at her and saw her best friend, alive and happy. It was too much for her to bear. She knew that it was impossible, but Chika’s depiction of Kanan made her remember how much she missed her. The tears rolled down her cheeks and she made no effort to brush them aside.

“Ahhh don’t cry! Kanan-chan wouldn’t be happy if we both cried over her.”

It had been a while since she heard someone else say her name like that. People usually mentioned her in past tense, or tried to avoid spelling it out directly. As if she didn’t know who they were referring to when they mentioned “the girl who drowned two years ago”. Thinking about it left a bitter taste on her tongue. Yet, hearing her name spoken so clearly and confidently, it almost made Kanan seem alive again. 

“Chika-san, do you believe in ghosts?”

“Ghosts?” Chika repeated. Dia nodded. She ignored the way Kanan was staring at her with surprise. Ever since the first time Kanan appeared to her, Dia had never uttered or even allowed herself to think of the word. Chika pondered for a second. “I don’t see why not. We live with ghosts all the time. In a way, they help us deal with guilt, grief and pain. However, for me, they’re more like a wish... For change, or for something to go back to the way it was before. Why do you ask? Do you believe in ghosts?” 

Dia had asked the question but she didn’t know how to respond. Her logical instinct was to answer in the negative. A few years ago, she would have answered as such, without hesitation. However, Kanan seemed so real that it would be very difficult for her to deny the plausibility of the supernatural. Maybe she really was hallucinating. Kanan could very well be a figment of her imagination due to the loneliness and her wish to see her friend again. If that was the case, she was no better than the first year chuunibyou she had encountered. 

Before she could continue on her train of thought, they were doused with a good splash of sea water. Dia’s mouth dropped open in shock until she tasted the salty ocean on her tongue and she reeled back in disgust. She wiped her mouth with her hand and almost laughed. The act was so Kanan that it was almost as if she had orchestrated it herself. She heard the tinkling sound of Kanan’s laughter before realising that her friend had gotten splashed as well. She looked back at the dog, who was still prancing around innocently, water dripping indelicately off his fur. Perhaps those stories about animals seeing things that were invisible to humans had more truth in them than she thought. Her doubts were eased as the topic was forgotten. 

“Shiitake!? What are you doing?” Chika groaned. “Aww, I just showered!”

Dia glanced back at the other girl. Her hair looked like it was set on fire by the setting sun and the golden outline of her skin reminded her of the days when they played on the beach until sunset. She wondered whether Kanan was thinking the same thing. Something told her that she was. It was a painful reminder that since no one else could see her, Kanan really didn’t exist unless Dia was watching her. Being the sole person to acknowledge her existence made Dia feel more alone then ever. All this time, it was as if she had been trying to keep her eyes open for her, and she now wondered how much longer she could go before she blinked. It was a split second but the thought of opening her eyes and not seeing her friend again frightened her. 

“You should go home and bathe Shiitake, as well as yourself.” Dia commented drily. She hoped that her voice was steadier than she felt. Chika agreed and leaned over to clip her leash onto Shiitake’s collar. He sat down on the sand with a low woof, disappointed that his walk was over.

“You know you’re always welcome at the inn, right?” Chika stood up, brushing off the sand that still clung to her damp clothes. “I can’t replace Kanan-chan, but I’ve always considered you as one of my friends. You’re trying to swim, right? Kanan-chan was the one who taught me, so I can teach you too.”

“Thank you for your offer, Chika-san. I’ll consider it.” The older girl saw the light in Chika’s eyes dim slightly. She must have thought that this was her way of rejecting her offer politely. She quickly cleared up the misconception. “Maybe next weekend, if you finish your homework first.”

“Okay! I’ll do my best. This is kind of embarrassing, but I thought you were a bit intimidating so I wasn't sure if I should start a conversation. However, I’m really glad I did.” Her eyes were filled with anticipation and Dia found herself looking forward to spending time with someone who came close to understanding what she was feeling. As the other girl jogged back to her house with Shiitake, Dia realised that the messiness of her soul didn’t bother her that much anymore. 

“I’m getting soft.” She mumbled.

“It’s about time, anyway.” Dia jumped, eliciting a short laugh from her friend. She had forgotten that Kanan was still next to her. On one hand, it comforted her that she still had her best friend with her. On the other, she knew that it wouldn’t last forever. Kanan looked at her seriously. “You need to look after her for me, okay?”

“Right now, I need to wash my clothes and hair before the salt ruins them.” She grumbled, using one of her towels to soak up some of the water. She didn’t like making these types of promises because it sounded like a goodbye. Kanan knew that.

“Psh, you’re warming up to her. Admit it.”

“Bye Kanan-san.” She picked up her bag and folded the dirty towels into a separate bag for washing. Her house wasn’t too far away, but she needed to give herself time to shower and get ready for dinner.

“See you, Dia.” As she walked away, Dia couldn’t help but worry that one day she wouldn't. 

~~

The weeks following Mari’s return passed mostly without much trouble. After Mari’s passionate speech at her welcome ceremony, the following assemblies served as a springboard for new ideas and directions on how to fight to keep their school open. The new director was warmly welcomed by those who knew her, and quickly gained the favour of those who didn't. Within days, she had people requesting to go for lunch with her and hang out during the weekend. Dia wasn’t surprised in the least. Mari was determined and she brought a boost of energy to the room. Naturally, people would be drawn to her. It was as if she had never left. Well, almost.

Dia kept to herself and did her best not to associate with her more than necessary. It didn’t feel right to get close to Mari; not after the way she left. She felt like it would be a betrayal to Kanan, since they were always together. In a sense, Kanan’s absence was the most noticeable when she was with Mari. So, she felt like she owed it to her to preserve that memory. She wondered if the students who remembered them thought the same. She sometimes caught herself turning to the seat where Kanan used to sit. Another student had taken her place, because leaving the seat empty would make it difficult to move on, she assumed. Hence, she trained herself to either look at her notes or at the teacher. 

Despite her reluctance, she knew that Mari had been searching for ways to reach out to her. She could no longer dwell in the background because her old friend had a tendency to take centre stage. Mari was the type of person who stood out and was difficult to ignore. In other words, she was the complete opposite of her. 

Hence, it came as a surprise when one morning, Mari bounded over to Dia and wrapped herself around her. The brunette had strategically avoided the director’s office, despite her regular visits to the library and teachers’ lounge which were in the next walkway. Unfortunately, their cohort was rather small. It was almost impossible to avoid interacting with her in some manner.

“Dia, good morning!” The blonde greeted cheerfully. She had apparently ditched the people she had been conversing with, once Dia stepped into the classroom. 

“Mari-san, let me go. You’re making it difficult to walk.” Dia squirmed in her arms. It was discomforting to feel the jealous and curious stares from the people sitting around them. 

“Nope! If I let go, you’ll run away again. I need to talk to you.” The brunette sighed. Mari wasn’t wrong, but she had once again resorted to extreme measures. She briefly wondered how Mari was able to maintain her reputation as the director of the school. She had so many responsibilities to take care of on her own. Yet, she spent most of her time acting like a regular student, attending classes and dozing off during lessons. It was a miracle that she could even pass her quizzes. 

“You’re speaking to me right now.” It must have been a hilarious sight. One of the popular girls going after someone known for freezing people out. She had made it very clear during their last interaction, that she wasn't going to let Mari back into her life that easily. 

Perhaps, it was her ability to be both the director and a regular student, that made everyone listen to her. However, it was difficult to see Mari as an authoritative figure when the girl currently looked like a cat demanding attention from its owner. The blonde remained physically attached to Dia, even as the latter tried to move towards her seat. 

“Then, can I sit on your lap?” Mari gleamed with mischief as her eyes trailed down her body. Her licentious smile made Dia cringe. Despite her upbringing, Mari still acted like a pervert at times. 

“No.” She deadpanned. She heard the answering snickers of a few other students who were watching the exchange. Mari pouted but loosened her hold on her eventually. Dia wanted to roll her eyes. She obviously wasn’t going to agree with such a frivolous request, and Mari knew that. She always had a weird sense of humour.

“Don’t worry Mari-chan, you can sit in mine.” Came the voice of another girl who was sitting three rows away. Mari caught Dia’s eye with a smug grin but Dia could see the hint of embarrassment. So, she did have some semblance of decency. She was about to retort that Mari was free for the taking, but Mari’s next words cut her off.

“Aww I appreciate the offer but I’m a one-woman kind of girl.” Dia’s jaw dropped in horror, as did a few students who were in earshot. She was about to protest that it wasn’t what they were thinking, but the bell rang before any of them could respond. 

Mari returned to her seat once the announcements started. Hence, Dia was finally left alone to wallow in her morbid embarrassment. It scarcely lasted for a few minutes.

“Kurosawa Dia, please go to the Director’s office after class today, thank you.” As the announcement blared over the loudspeaker, Dia raised her eyebrows. It seemed like she wasn’t getting out of this conversation. She glanced over at Mari, but the blonde was already looking at her. She waited until the teacher began the lesson before breaking eye contact. 

It wasn’t until after she had taken out her books that she realised it was the first time she had entered a room without looking at the ground.

~~

“You could have just asked me to meet you in person.” Dia took a step forward as the director waved her in. 

“I needed to speak with you and you’ve been avoiding me. This was the only alternative that would ensure your cooperation.” Mari said calmly. Sitting behind a table with numerous files and paperwork, she really did look like a director. She placed her reading glasses on the table and looked at Dia.

“Mari-san, I’m sure we both have better things to do than talk about this right now.”

“You’re right. I do have a reason for asking you here. Maybe you can help me figure out why two students dropped out a week before I came back.” Mari placed two files in front of her. She didn't have to open them to know that they were the documents signed to permit the students’ transfer out of the course. However, the director opened the files and pointed to the two signatures. They were identical. It simply confirmed what she already knew. The girls hadn’t dropped out. They had disappeared.

“I checked their transfer papers and looked up the recipient schools. The girls never arrived.” Mari continued.

“What does this have to do with me?”

“I was hoping you could help me find the stalkers.”

“What?” Stalkers? Dia was confused. How had she come to that conclusion? 

“Some girls have reported to me that they feel that they’re being watched or followed when they’re on campus.” Mari got up from her desk to come closer to her. Dia swallowed. There was a particular look about her which made her uneasy. She didn’t like this vigilante side of Mari because she had a tendency to have tunnel vision. Furthermore, it was especially dangerous because Mari didn't know what she was up against. The blonde towered over her as she spoke. Their height difference was palpable considering that Dia was currently sitting. “I won’t let this be the reason that our school gets closed down. This place is very precious to me and I know that it holds a lot of memories for you too. I’ve increased the level of security around the premises but even with cameras and lighted paths, it’s impossible to eliminate the possibility of something happening. So, the only way is to catch the culprit.”

“How exactly do you plan on doing that? Do you plan to endanger your life?” Dia asked, her green eyes shone with anger. This was exactly why she didn’t want Mari to come back. She would be graduating in a couple of months, and then she would leave town. She had a plan for the future. Now, all of that seemed so far away and uncertain. “Can you think, for once, about the consequences of your actions?”

“I am thinking, Dia. If we don't save our school, who will?”

“You think you can leave, come back whenever you want and act like you’re responsible to save the school and everyone in it?” After the words escaped her lips, she realised that she had unintentionally allowed her old wounds to reopen and influence her speech. Part of her knew that she was being unfair. Mari just wanted to help. However, she would admit that it was slightly therapeutic to release some of the emotions that she had yet to resolve. “You’re still just as naïve, Mari-san. You can’t get everything you want.”

“I know that. Maybe it won’t change anything; but then again, maybe it will. At least I’m trying to make a difference. I thought you would feel the same.” Mari’s resolve hardened as she turned away from her. A second passed. Another. When she spoke, her voice was tight. “We're done here. You can go.”

In that split second, Dia knew. She was going to lose her if she didn’t do something to change it. Steeling herself for what she had to do, Dia left the room without turning back.

~~ 

She raised her hand to knock on the door but the shuffling sounds inside the room made her hesitate. Again, she questioned her sanity for even resorting to this method. The first and only time that she interacted with the girl, she had left the room with a migraine. Yet, here she was, stepping back through the “gates of Hell” as Yoshiko had so eloquently put it. 

Originally, she had just assumed that Yoshiko was an exception. Her soul didn’t fit into any of the categories she usually had. However, she knew things that she shouldn't. What made her slightly unnerved when they first met, was because Yoshiko had hinted that the darkness was getting stronger. She had also called her a fellow angel of darkness, which somehow made her blood run cold. She hadn’t told Kanan any of that. That particular conversation happened three weeks before the two students had disappeared. Now that things were likely to escalate, she had to confirm her suspicions. She swallowed the sour taste in her throat as she waited for Yoshiko to respond. 

She opened the door, only to be met with a cackle. The multi-purpose room had once again been plunged into darkness. She could barely make out the shape of tables that had been pushed to the corner. 

“Yoshiko-san, I thought I’ve told you previously that the lights need to be on when someone is in the room. Did you move the tables without permission again? This room is used for other purposes.” 

“AH! The Dark Keeper has returned to purify us!”

She didn't answer the question. Dia sighed and reached for the light switch. However, a voice all but echoed in her mind before she could act. Don’t. She paused and turned to the other girl in the room. The voice didn't sound like hers.

Leave us.

Dia paused. The voice hadn’t come from the girl in the center of the room. Instead, it sounded like it had come from the corner where Yoshiko’s fake skull prop was. The glowing eyes had to be a due to some battery installation. The smoke she had caught a glimpse of, disappeared as soon as she turned on the lights.

Suddenly, Yoshiko was next to her. She spoke directly to the skull in apology. It would be funny if Dia wasn't genuinely concerned. “Forgive me, master. I’ve been overruled by the Guardian of the School. Even the Great and Powerful Fallen Angel Yohane has to conform with the limitations of this establishment while I reside here.” 

“Did your title just get longer?” Dia blinked. She remembered that the girl had called herself ‘The Fallen Angel Yohane’ just a few weeks ago. “Also, why did you give me such a weird title?” 

“Every word is a representation of superiority and strength. As the Fallen Angel Yohane, I know and see what mere mortals cannot.” Dia looked at her and the word ‘see’ lingered in her mind. She had never considered herself as someone to be compared with people like Yoshiko, but she may have to reconsider that stance. She shook her head and reminded herself of why she had come.

“Yoshiko-san, can you tell me again, how you got your...powers?” 

“It’s Yohane!” The younger girl whined, but her voice switched back before Dia could retort. “I see that you too, have been enthralled by the darkness where Yohane resides. The Dark Angel takes no prisoners. However, since you have chosen to partake in the divulging of my wisdom, you can become my little demon and hear the story of how the Fallen Angel was born.” 

“What?” Dia was completely lost. She hadn’t said anything to implicate that she would partake in what sounded like a satanic ritual. Conversing with this girl was proving to be just as impossible as she had thought. Perhaps she had been mistaken and Yoshiko had no connection with whatever was happening with the shadows. However, the other girl cleared her throat and started speaking again. 

“It started with an angel who was more powerful than many others. However, his power was restricted by the rules of heaven. So, he could never reach his full potential. He started exploring his own abilities and grew stronger. One day, he was caught and cast down to earth as punishment, to live in damnation and be cursed with darkness forever.” Dia squinted. She wasn't sure whether Yoshiko was referring to herself as a male, or something else. The logic of her story completely flew over Dia’s head, but she continued to listen without interruption. “When he crashed to earth, his wings were broken and his spirit was torn. In his last moments, he was found by another. Seeing her potential, he offered her his hand and his power flowed into her being, creating a dark angel. That was how Yohane joined his allegiance.” 

Realising that her story was finished, Dia felt even more confused than before. It wasn't just because Yoshiko spoke about herself in third person, but the story itself seemed unbelievable. It seemed like a legend to teach children not to be greedy. However, she considered her own ability and wondered if perhaps there was some truth to the tale. 

Furthermore, as she shifted in her seat, her eyes drifted to the floor. She hadn’t noticed it at first, but once it registered to her, the image was burned into her mind. Her eyes widened and she found it difficult to breathe. 

Yoshiko had two shadows. 

“Yoshiko-san, do you usually operate in the dark?” She asked carefully. Now that she had realised it, she could feel the stare of the skull that was sitting above her. It felt like a drill was boring a hole into the side of her head. She had to know. If the situation was what she anticipated, she may have just found the key to stopping the killings. 

“Of course! My dark powers are enhanced in the absence of light. I must not allow myself to be cleansed by the purity, lest I lose faith in my master.” The young girl answered seriously. Her eyes were dark and cold, yet she looked somewhat satisfied. Dia wanted to smile. “Now, it is time for me to return to my tasks; you should too.”

Dia debated asking her the question that had always been on her mind but decided against it. There had to be a reason why she couldn't see her own soul. Yoshiko’s situation was different from hers. She didn't think it was the time to get into it. 

She had just closed the door behind her when she heard someone calling her. She turned to see Kanan barreling towards her. The fear was evident in her eyes despite her relief at finding her. “Dia! You need to go right now.”

“Wait Kanan-san, I just figured out something that can actually help stop the shadows from attacking people.”

“Dia, you’re not listening. It’s Mari.” Her blood turned to ice. She thought back to Yoshiko’s monotonous voice and placid smile when she said that Dia had things to do. She shook her head. That girl was definitely something else to be discussed another day. 

“What about Mari? Did something happen?”

“Something followed her when she left the school.”

She didn't waste another second thinking. Instead, Dia slung her bag over her shoulder and ran. Somehow, she knew exactly where she had to go. As she jogged down the slope leading back to town, she dialed a number on her phone and pressed ‘call’ with no hesitation.

First, she needed a boat.

~~

The light flickered as her screen dimmed and faded to black. Emergency saving mode. 

The girl sighed. Reluctantly, she pocketed the device. A short distance away, a twig snapped. Jumping slightly, she glanced behind her, even though she knew that there wasn’t anyone there. Ever since Kanan’s death, Mari was basically living alone on Awashima. Kanan’s parents had sold the shop and moved away since the business wasn’t doing well. Hence, it was just Mari and her thoughts, most of the time.

She looked up. The sky was cloudy, so she could barely see the moon or the path around her. She had taken Kanan’s usual route around the island, connecting the back of her hotel to the abandoned diving shop. It had been a stroll down memory lane for her, until she remembered that navigating the terrain became considerably more difficult after dark. Lamps hadn’t been installed along most of the paths, since guests at the hotel didn’t leave the premises at night.

There was a rustle amongst the foliage behind her. The first thing that came to mind was that she had a stalker. Her statue and portraits were somewhere in the hotel, so it wasn’t a surprise that people would be able to recognise her as the Ohara heiress. However, she didn’t think anyone had followed her when she left. The hair on the back of her neck stood as she felt a soft brush of air against her neck.

The sea was calm. There was no wind to blame. She squared her shoulders; that wasn’t a good sign. She had been aware of people disappearing around town, but she assumed that the offshore island would be relatively safe. Evidently, she had been mistaken. She had just returned home after a long absence; it wasn’t in her plans to be kidnapped for ransom.

She did what she always did. She turned and looked her attacker in the face.

However, what she saw made her regret doing so. Or rather, it was what she didn’t see, that terrified her. Her blood ran cold. Whatever it was, it didn’t have a face. It was shaped like a person, but it was also unlike anything remotely human. She took a step backwards but she didn’t want to turn her back to this creature. She didn’t know if it could even be called a creature since it seemed to take its form in mid-air.

She felt another exhale against the right side of her neck and froze. The first black shape was straight ahead, and it was taking slow steps towards her. She swallowed as she forced herself not to break eye contact. She felt a prickling sensation on her side and her instinct kicked in. She saw the glimmer of razor sharp teeth stretch into a hideous smile.

She was going to die. She wouldn’t be able to see her friends and family again. She wouldn’t get to graduate. She wouldn’t get to tell Dia she- 

No.

She was Ohara Mari. She wasn’t going to let herself get killed so easily. She had come back to Uchiura for a reason. She wasn’t going to leave Dia alone again, even though Dia was doing fine without her. She had to try.

She screamed.

The force of her voice threw the shadow by surprise, and it gave her the chance to run. She spun around and yanked herself away from the numbing sensation. Putting whatever force and energy she had in her body, she ran. She didn’t care which direction she was heading in, as long as she was putting distance between her and those creatures.

“Mari-san? Are you here?”

She heard the soft sounds of an engine above the waves. Dia was close. So, she must be near the beach or the jetty. Either would give her a chance to escape. Mari widened her eyes and sped forward, following the sound of her voice. She prayed desperately that it wasn’t her mind playing tricks on her.

She saw a familiar flash of lights as she reached the edge of the beach. This was her personal miracle; Dia was waiting for her. She almost cried with relief. As soon as she was within her line of sight, Dia hopped off the boat and shone the front running lights over the path in front of her while she tugged the boat nearer to the shoreline.

She had been taught how to properly beach a boat so that she could easily launch it back into the sea, but following the steps seemed less important as compared to getting Mari to safety.

Dia switched on the masthead and side lights and ran towards her, flashlight in hand. She didn't know whether she would be proven horribly wrong, but she had to try. She couldn't lose Mari too.

Mari heard the faint sound of screeching and propelled herself forward until she slammed into a warm body. Almost immediately, she felt Dia’s arms wrap around her protectively. Then, she stepped away. Mari looked down and realised that Dia had placed a blanket around her. She stood in the same spot, as Dia turned the lights to maximum brightness. Realising that she hadn’t moved, Dia nudged her towards the boat and angled the rest of the beams directly onto the shadows. 

The sounds turned into a low hiss before stopping altogether.

Dia waved the flashlight around in the dark, but there was no more movement. She was relieved. The shadows had dissipated. When she reached the control panels, she left her flashlight on, but dimmed the other lights. There wouldn’t be another attack for now. However, the circumstances of this particular attempt worried her. She had never seen more than one shadow at a time, in the same area. This meant that they were colluding, or even communicating somehow. There was a weak whimper from her side, and she remembered that she had come to Awashima for a reason. This was a mystery to be solved another day. 

“Mari-san, are you hurt?” The other girl was still standing next to the light beams. She looked comparable to an animal in headlights as she stared at her. 

Mari felt like her lungs were about to explode. Her breaths were uneven and she was shivering. She was still gasping for breath as Dia directed her to sit down. Her legs wobbled when she took a step forward. Before she could blink, Dia was holding her up and gently guiding her to sit on the sand.

“Take it.” Dia waited until her lungs were functioning properly again before handing her another flashlight.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a flashlight.”

“Yes, Dia, I can see that. It doesn’t seem like much of a weapon against formless shapes.” Mari’s sarcasm had thorns, but Dia knew that she didn't intend to be snarky. She was scared, and probably still hurt from their earlier conversation.

“It was hers.” Dia said quietly, gesturing to the flashlight by way of explanation. “Electricity stops them, or at least slows them down.”

“Those things...”

“The shadows are gone; but I can’t promise that they won’t be back.” She waited for Mari to take the green flashlight out of her hands. It felt as though she was losing a part of Kanan in the process, but it was for Mari’s protection. “You should keep this with you at all times.”

“What are they?” 

“I don’t know. The best I can figure is that they take the form of shadows and go after humans. Darkness makes them stronger. Electricity puts up some sort of barrier so they’re weaker and can't attack. Pure light seems to stop them completely.” Dia frowned. She didn’t know how much to trust her with. Although she had survived this attack, she was still a victim and a likely target, if not because of where she lived, then because of her soul. The shadows always went after the brighter souls first. 

Her phone vibrated with a message from her father, asking for updates on her whereabouts. She typed out a reply before pocketing her phone. Mari looked less shaken up, but she was still cold. She needed to get her back to the safety of the hotel before anything else happened.

“Well, we should get going. We have school tomorrow.” Dia made sure that the boat was securely beached before grabbing her flashlight. “I’ll walk you back to your hotel.”

“Wait a minute, Dia.” Mari grabbed her wrist without thinking, surprising both Dia and herself. As if realising her mistake, she quickly released her. “Ah... sorry.”

“Is anything wrong?” Dia glanced around in case she had missed something, but any otherworldly presence had vanished without a trace. They were safe for now.

“No, there’s nothing wrong. I... I just haven’t seen much of you since I got back.”

“You’re the new director of the school. You have responsibilities, so that’s natural.”

“I’m not speaking as the director right now. I’m just me.” Dia didn’t respond. The other girl didn’t relent. “I just want to spend some time with you, Dia. We were best friends, doesn’t that count for something?”

“You left, Mari-san. There’s nothing much left for me to say.”

“You were the reason I came back, Dia.” Mari sighed. She looked down at her hands and felt nervous. “If I say that I regretted leaving you behind, will you at least listen to me?”

Dia looked up at her with some irritation. She didn’t want to hear those lies. Mari had no reason to stay behind or come back for her. She had made her feelings very clear on the day she left. 

“Mari-san, I’m not looking for apologies or regrets to make you feel better. I know why you had to leave. I don’t blame you for going.”

“I’m still sorry. I can’t take back the past but I’m here now.” Mari trailed off, as if she feared the consequences of her own words. Dia hesitated but eventually sat down beside her, leaning back against her hands. The tension left Mari’s shoulders. She wrapped her arms around her legs and watched the waves lap at the sand near her feet. “After... you know, I just couldn’t be here. Everything I did and saw reminded me of her. I even had dreams of her that were so vivid… I wanted to just go somewhere else to breathe and move on, but...”

“But it’s hard to move on from someone you loved.” Dia finished her sentence with a grimace. She didn’t like speaking about this topic. It gave her an unsettling feeling in her stomach to talk about Kanan in that manner. After all, the aforementioned girl was sitting next to her, despite being invisible to Mari. Mari’s feelings for Kanan had always been a sore spot for Dia because it was something that she never wanted to be involved in. Whatever happened or would have happened between them, was between the two of them. Dia didn't want any part of it. She remembered the churning pit in her stomach when Kanan told her one night, that she was afraid that Mari would confess. Dia had taken a long breath before asking her why she felt that way. Kanan gave her a smile that seemed more sad than anything else. That smile remained at the back of her mind whenever Dia thought about it. 

Because my answer would break both your hearts and that would destroy mine.

“I don’t know if I did. Love her, I mean. I don't think that was what it was.” Mari shook her head in disagreement. She looked uneasy and Dia avoided looking directly at her. “I had feelings for her, yes, but I was too immature at the time. We were children. It wouldn’t have worked out.”

“You wouldn’t have always been children.” Dia replied. Her heart ached suddenly when she realised the unspoken thought that hit both of them at the same time. She and Mari would grow up someday, but Kanan never will. In their minds, she would always be as young as the child she was, when she disappeared from their lives. 

“Either way, I shouldn’t have left. I was selfish and afraid. I’m sorry, Dia.” Mari cleared her throat and Dia felt a soft palm cover hers. She was warm. Under the light of the moon, Mari’s white dress seemed to be luminous. She wasn’t sure whether it was the effect of being able to see her soul, or if she was actually watching as something changed within her. Dia forced her eyes away from her friend and looked at the ground. Two shadows. They were still human. They were still alive. “No matter what I was feeling, it must have been even more painful for you to endure on your own.”

“I wasn’t exactly alone. Kanan-san never really left.” Dia spoke with a low voice. It was almost a mumble but it was just loud enough for Mari’s ears. Dia’s gaze caught the startled purple eyes of Kanan, who had moved to sit behind Mari. She turned back to the latter, who looked slightly confused at the information. Her brain took some time to process what she said, but she realised her implication.

“Is that a blessing or a curse?” She asked finally. There was no judgment in her eyes; only curiosity.

“It’s both.” Dia answered. Mari didn’t seem angry or jealous, which was a relief. 

“So, you still see her?”

“It was difficult to believe at first, but it helped in a way.” She chanced a look at Kanan, but her friend said nothing. “She misses you too, but I guess that’s obvious.”

“Oi.” Kanan flicked a speck of sand at her shoulder. Dia jerked her shoulder away with a tut of disapproval. “I didn’t ask you to speak on my behalf.”

“It’s true though.” Dia glared at her. “You didn’t have to say it for me to know that.”

It dawned on her that this was the first time she had spoken to Kanan in the presence of another human being. Her best friend didn’t usually speak when someone else was around. It would have led to some very awkward conversations. However, Dia wondered whether this slip up was intentional. She had always pushed Dia out of her comfort zone. For a moment, she feared the blonde’s reaction. She would have been fine with Mari never knowing the truth. The scene seemed comical even to her own eyes. 

Yet, to her surprise, Mari didn’t laugh. She just stared intently at her, not Kanan, with an unreadable gaze. Dia waited for her to ask her to pass on a message or question to her childhood crush but the other girl was silent. She looked at her best friend questioningly, but Kanan shook her head.

After a few moments, Dia broke the trance and stood up. It was getting very late and she still had to go home. Mari followed her wordlessly. She accompanied Mari to the back gate of her hotel before turning back to find her own way back to the mainland.

~~

“Did you really have nothing to say to her?” Dia asked when they were alone again. She had turned around the corner as they headed back towards the beach, Kanan casually strolling along by her side. The other girl’s form had become a lot lighter than before but she assumed it was the moonlight.

“Dia, I’m dead. We both know that I don’t belong here anymore.” Kanan stopped walking and so did Dia. She seemed uncomfortable suddenly, which worried Dia. “Now that Mari’s home, I think I can leave you with her. You have to take care of one another.”

“What do you mean?” For once, Dia hoped she was joking, because she wouldn't have been able to save Mari if Kanan hadn’t warned her in advance. 

“You weren’t ready to let go. Neither was I, to be honest. However, if you keep holding on to this, none of us can move forward.”

“Grieving is a process, Kanan-san.” Dia argued back. She knew that she was prolonging the inevitable. “I haven’t figured out how to fix things. There’s a lot we don't know about what happened that day. I’m not ready to miss you again.”

“I miss you too. But Dia, you can’t fix something that wasn’t broken. Anyway, aren’t you tired of being the girl who talks to ghosts?” She was smiling but it was that heartbreaking smile that Dia couldn't forget. It made her want to shut her eyes and pretend it was all a dream. 

“You’re not a ghost; don’t say that. You’re my best friend.”

“Was.” Kanan corrected her quietly. Her eyes were wet. Dia hated tears because they clouded her vision and made her voice break but it was too late to stop them. “It’s not time yet, Kanan-san.”

“We’re all living on borrowed time. You can’t keep living half a life because of me. You’re still alive, Dia.” Kanan leaned closer to her and whispered her next sentence into her ear. “And so is she. It’s time that you go on without me.”

“How can I?”

“You can start by forgiving yourself, and Mari.”

“I don’t bear any grudges towards her.”

“No, but you haven’t completely forgiven her, or yourself. You’ve built up walls around you but you’re still cold, Dia.” Kanan touched her cheek. Dia jerked back on instinct even though she couldn’t feel her touch. “Forgiveness is warm; like a tear caressing your cheek as it falls. It gets cold by the time it’s fully formed but by then you would be ready to part with it. Think of that when it rains, and remember me along with it.”

“If you disappear, I’ll start to forget you; parts of you, and then you’ll stop existing. It’ll be like you weren’t here.” Chika’s words echoed in her mind. The town was forgetting. The people avoided her name. Her life and memories would one day turn into other people’s stories and she would just be a nameless face that appeared in the background of a dream.

“But I was here. I existed; and I will continue to exist because I was a part of your life and you were a part of mine. Everything else is just arbitrary.” Kanan wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. Dia wished she could feel something instead of the pain. “I know you hate goodbyes, so you don't have to say anything.”

Dia squeezed her eyes shut and pictured herself hugging Kanan back. Not the girl who only existed to her, but the Kanan she met the day before the incident. They had parted ways with a casual hug but she held on to that memory as if she could sear the image into her brain. There was a soft sigh which could have been the wind. Dia opened her eyes.

Kanan was gone.

The lurch in her stomach told her that she was truly alone. The emptiness in her heart was unsettling. It was worse than the darkness and more terrifying than the fear of death, because she felt nothing. The feeling of nothingness spread throughout her body until she couldn't find herself. It was like she was floating in an ocean of vacuum and she could struggle and scream but sound and air didn't exist.

For a moment, she wondered if that was how Kanan felt in her last few moments as she fought to breathe and live for another second. She wondered what her friend had been thinking, right up until the last gasp of air escaped her lips. Did she claw her way to the surface? Did she cry? She didn't know if it was even possible to cry underwater, but she liked to think that Kanan struggled as hard as she could because she wanted to come back. She never asked; so, she would never know.

“Kanan-san? If you’re hiding somewhere to teach me a lesson, this isn’t funny.” She spun around, peering into the shadows, straining to catch a glimpse of the other girl. She usually hated looking directly into the darkness because she couldn’t tell what was shadow and what wasn’t. However, in that moment, her fear was muted. It didn’t matter anyway, her vision was already blurry with unwanted tears. It was like losing her best friend all over again. The memory flooded her mind before she could stop it.

It was the day she had followed her father to the office and he had gotten an urgent call which he took in private. She heard him mention the Matsuuras and she had bolted towards the ships. One of the fishing boats had found her, only for Dia to realise that her best friend’s life was long lost. She had gotten a glimpse of her limp body before she felt a silent scream burst out of her mouth. The next moment, her eyes were covered by a hand and she was taken away.

The next time she saw her, it was at the funeral wake. Dia held Mari’s hands and hugged her as she sobbed into her shoulder. For some reason, she couldn’t cry. She stared at the girl lying in front of her, and at the newly framed picture on the shelf. Her parents had chosen a picture of her by the ocean, smiling like she had discovered the secret to everlasting happiness. In a strangely twisted way, she had.

Mari had gone up to the body after the ceremony, but Dia didn’t follow. Mari needed time alone with Kanan, which was something she understood. She looked at the other people in the crowd around them. They were various people from town, teachers and other families. People were leaving stems of chrysanthemums for the grieving parents, except for someone who left two mikans. Dia looked around for Chika, but the orange haired girl had gone outside, and was hugging Shiitake. She wanted to go over, but she wasn't sure if they were close enough. Instead, Dia took out a folded photograph which she had kept in her pocket on the way over. It was an old picture taken by Kanan’s mother while they were playing near the diving shop. She had been fiddling with the camera since it was relatively new at the time. Since there was only one copy, they were supposed to share ownership of it. However, Kanan had given it to her after she won a game they were playing.

Dia had been afraid of entering the water, but Kanan was holding her hand and pulling excitedly towards the ocean. She couldn’t remember what her friend had said, but they looked happy. She compared the photo in her hand, to the girl who was laid on the floor. The girl lying there wasn’t Kanan. Her best friend was the girl she remembered. She couldn’t shed tears when the Kanan who lived in her memory was laughing so happily.

It had been three weeks after the funeral. Dia had gone to the beach alone, for the first time. She had been reading about funerals and how people scattered the ashes in the ocean. For some reason, she had gotten it in her head that the only way she could return the photograph was by burning it and throwing the ashes into the ocean. Before she could do anything, Kanan had reprimanded her about polluting the ocean and destroying one of their memories. She had been so stunned to see her that she accidentally burned herself, which resulted in Kanan panicking as she dragged her into the ocean to cool the burns.

That was when it all started.

“Dia!” That wasn’t the voice she was hoping for. She rubbed her eyes and blinked the tears away. Mari was running back towards her. She had to be strong, even though she felt more alone than she had ever been. 

“Dia. Be my partner.”

“What?”

“Run for Student Council President.” Slightly out of breath from the run, Mari grasped her hands in between her own. Dia was surprised to feel how warm she was, or perhaps it was her who had become colder. “Save the school with me. We can stop other people from getting killed and make sure the school doesn’t close down.”

“Becoming the President of the Student Council wouldn’t make things any better. I can’t save everyone.”

“Of course, you can’t. Not without help, at least.”

“I don’t really need your help, Mari-san.” Dia tried to reason with her. Her suggestion was impractical. Here she was, as ambitious and ridiculous as she had been three years ago. She never thought about the complications before jumping headfirst into a problem that was bigger than her. Dia, however, didn’t want to carry that responsibility. Despite her reservations about Mari, she still cared very much for the girl who was always too reckless with her life. “I just want to protect the people I care about. Unfortunately, that includes you.”

“I don’t have your ability, but I can find other ways to help and support you. We can protect each other.” She paused for a millisecond before speaking, which was the only indication that she had heard and understood the implications of what Dia said. The brunette was prepared to give her a flat-out rejection. She couldn’t have her friend’s blood on her hands. She still had to fulfil her promise to Kanan. However, her next line made Dia reconsider. It was spoken so softly that she wasn’t certain whether she was meant to hear it, but she did. “I can’t handle losing you.”

Dia exhaled slowly. She was fighting a losing battle. Perhaps, Mari had been feeling the same way all along. She thought back to the navy haired girl who haunted their dreams and influenced their reality. “Take care of one another”, she had said. Dia took a breath.

“Okay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> Thank you for reading this fic. It's my first attempt at writing an AU and a fantasy one, at that. However, I had a really great time writing this. I came up with the concept of the storyline and the skeletal within one day, and after I started writing it, the ideas kept flowing and I was really happy. It got a bit difficult to complete at times, because some of the scenes have to be explained in the sequel. (Yes, there is a sequel planned, because I had too many things to explain in this AU and many ideas for all of the characters.) I know I definitely have lots to improve on, but I hope you enjoyed reading this!


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